Pontefract Cakes are named for an ancient town in West Yorkshire England where licorice used to grow. The region was known as the few places in the British Isles that licorice could be cultivated.

The licorice plant was not native to the area, it was likely brought in and planted sometime after the Crusades, sometime around the year 1000 or perhaps as late as 1090 when the Benedictine monks that came to the town to found their monastery. Licorice root was steeped and used like a syrup to sweeten drinks (or flavor spirits) and the roots were chewed as a treat. Sometime around 500 years ago the locals created a licorice confection known as Pontefract Cakes, which are really more of a little medallion of molasses-based licorice. The disks look rather like a coin or a blob of sealing wax. They don’t grow licorice in the area any longer, but there are still two factories that make the age old sweet: Haribo and Monkhill Confections (originally known as Wilkinson’s).

In fact, true Pontefract cakes were made by hand until the 60s. Rolls of licorice dough were pieced into little blobs and then hand stamped. These Haribo Pontefract Cakes preserve that hand-stamped look.

I was expecting these to be stiff and hard, like the continental European licorice. Instead they’re quite soft and pliable. They have a matte finish and feel like coins made out of silicone. I found that even though I didn’t seal up the bag well, they still didn’t get stale or tacky.

The early cakes had different embossed images in them, it’s said that they were of the Pontefract Castle, but this Haribo one is just a vague rectangle in the center (that might be a castle with a flag) and the Haribo Original name.

They smell sweet and a little herbal. Since these weren’t American-style licorice pieces (that usually contain wheat), I was expecting something a little smoother but perhaps a bit stronger. Instead I found quite a different flavor profile. First, it’s barely sweet. The sweetness is woodsy and rather delicate. The chew of the cake is soft and not quite gummy but more hearty than a gumdrop. There’s a little hint of salt to it (actually quite a bit 200 mg of sodium per serving) and the charcoal notes of molasses. The nice part about the flavor is that it’s a true licorice, not amped up anise. It’s mild and soothing.

They were a little weak to satisfy my licorice desires. I like a really hearty licorice with a lot of molasses with caramel, toasted sugar and charcoal notes, it seems to moderate the very sweet nature of true licorice. But these are easy to eat and though they stick to my teeth a little bit, the smoothness keeps me coming back for me.

These contain real licorice, so those with heath concerns with licorice extract should avoid it. It’s also made with gelatin, so it’s not for vegetarians or those who keep Kosher/Halal.

Related Candies

1. Barratt Liquorice Catherine Wheels
2. Marich Black Heart Licorice
3. Broadway Black Licorice Rolls
4. Walkers’ Nonsuch Liquorice Toffee
5. Young & Smylie Traditional Licorice
6. Jelly Belly Licorice Bears
7. Haribo Licorice Wheels

Just some generic grocery store candy from Amsterdam. They’re Albert Heijn Tum Tum. Albert Heijn is a grocery chain and the tum tum candies are just an assortment of jellies, gumdrops, chocolate nonpareils and gummis. Mostly they’re fun to look at but there’s usually something for everyone in there.

This is from a Giant Eagle store in Younstown, OH. I’ve always been so jealous of this candy selection and usually priced at $2.50 a pound it was quite a deal.

I feel like going candy shopping. Where do you get your best deals?

Rain Republic makes small batch chocolate with locally sourced ingredients right in Guatemala. Naturally this means that the cocoa beans are Guatemalan, specifically they’re from Suchitepequez. In addition the other two major ingredients are also Guatemalan, the sugar (evaporated cane juice) is from Retalhuleu and the vanilla beans are from Coban. The only thing that’s not local is the soy lecithin.

I first discovered them at the Fancy Food Show in January 2010, but was intrigued when I saw their first American offering was via wine.woot.com in April.

The idea of single origin is nothing new, but the notion that the product is actually produced in the country of origin is quite appealing. (In many cases cacao farmers in very isolated areas never taste the products made from their beans.)

This triple single origin is packaged quite cleverly. The bar is sealed in a light mylar sleeve. That’s tucked into a paperboard box made of recycled content. the construction of the box makes it easy to put the uneaten chocolate back in and tuck in the tabs to protect the bar. The graphic design is bold and original, focusing on the story of the bar as well as the ingredients - a little line drawing of each item is the main focus and provide the only color.

The bar is 2 ounces and what I’ve found with a lot of these single origin bar is that’s plenty for me. Though most candy portions are about 2 ounces, 1 ounce of very dark chocolate is plenty satisfying for me. That’s probably good because one bar contains 360 calories and 76% of my saturated fat for the day.

That fat is what attracts me to the bar. While it’s 70% cacao, it’s obvious that much of that cacao content isn’t the solids, it’s the silky cocoa butter.

The bar smells smoky and dusty. There are woodsy notes, but mostly it’s like cocoa instead of chocolate. The rather dark and chalky looking exterior fooled me. I was concerned that it would be dry. It has a distinct snap and great tempering. There’s a quick melt on the tongue and it was apparent to me right away that this was smooth stuff. It’s quite silky and rather light on the sugar. There are dark burnt sugar notes (evaporated cane juice often contributes those flavors as it has more molasses in it). It’s woodsy and slightly acidic, so there’s a dry and bitter middle portion in the tasting. The silky cocoa butter covers that very well. A little hint of coffee, licorice and rosemary. But a good, robust flavor profile.

The big question now is where to get more of this! If you’re curious keep an eye on their facebook page. They also have some great photos there of the farmers and cacao trees. The price was $3 per bar on Woot, but I don’t know what the retail will be. $5 would be reasonable.

(More on the product design from the designers.)

Related Candies

1. Pierre Herme Chocolat Noir Sao Tome
2. Amano Dos Rios 70% Chocolate
3. TCHO Fruity
4. Askinosie Chocolate
5. Domori Cru
6. Dagoba Single Origin

Do you need to separate your different flavors of candy before you eat them? What if the candies are only different colors, do you still line them up before consuming?

(These are Tiny Chiclets, reviewed here.)